To be a king in China

by Adam Disatnik ·
Published April 15, 2014
· Updated December 23, 2014

Coming to travel in China soon?
Now is your time to prepare yourself and become a king.

A true king

No no, I don’t mean a king in the way you think.
Not a king because China is cheap (which is not true, see my post about it), but a king because you will earn the Chinese people appreciation.
How you can do that? by doing a few fairly simple things:

Before you arrive here – learn a few simple words or even sentences.
For example, learn how to say thank you (Xièxiè / 谢谢), learn how to say water (Shuǐ/ 水）learn how to say “can I have the bill please” (simply say Mǎidān/ 买单).
Those are just an example, but if you show the Chinese people you come across, that you are trying to speak the language ,they will be more than appreciative and will be more helpful and kind.
You can check out online tips for words (youtube for example), I’m sure there are a lot!

Specialty

Try eating with chopsticks – even though it’s not always a simple task, if you will show your host (especially if it’s in someone’s home) that you are eating with chopsticks it will earn you some points.
Plus – it guarantees to raise some laughs around;) just try to make sure nothing slips from your chopstick on someone else!

Try to read a little bit about the place you are going to, that might not be “appreciated” per se but it will be good for you to find out where you are going – this is just a small tip from me.

Improve your drinking skills!
As you might have already heard, Chinese drinking culture is a big deal here, and I can tell you from my own experience – they can drink!
Especially if you are going on a business trip, it is important to know the conduct (read about it here) but even if you are just coming to visit and you will come across some cool Chinese people that will take you out, they will appreciate if you “won’t break down”.

Everywhere – bargain, but with grace.

Learn how to bargain:)
If you find yourself in one of the Chinese markets (silk market in Beijing for example) you will either pay a LOT of money – it can come to 500RMB for a nice shirt – or if you bargain it can cost around 60, for the same shirt!
Plus – the sellers expect you to bargain and some of them even like it (it’s can be like a game;) ).
The thing is, you will need to learn how to do it with “grace” and reason:
– You will need to know the estimated price of the product in the market.
– You will need to know when to put a stop to the bargaining as you might end up insulting the seller.
– You will need to be reasonable – don’t expect to buy a shirt for 10RMB – it won’t happen!

That’s about it for now.
If you do the above you are likely to have more fun and to encounter more smiling faces:)
And of course – you will have more fun!

I have been living in China since early 2013 in the great Beijing.
I try to travel as much as I can and try to understand the culture and the habits as much as possible.
It's amazing how much can be learned about China, and about life, while living abroad in a totally different country than the one you grew up in.
I love it!
Catch up on my blog to try and understand along with me:)
Adam.

Some tips and facts

Gold tip#2

Anything you do here in China - be patient.
Sometimes it takes time here to do stuff, not matter if it's in an official office or a serviceman, it might take time.. Be ready:)

Fun fact#3

If you have some spare cash (a few hundred thousand), don't miss out on a trip to space:)
It sounds super cool and you'll be a pioneer..!
For more information click here.

Gold tip#3

This one will either sound stupid or funny - but seriously - don't take the subway (or any public transportation for that matter) in the city center between 07:30 to 11:00 if you value breathing and if you value personal space:)

Fun fact#5

As for 2014, there are over 10 million Chinese which immigrated out from mainland China to foreign countries.

Random Photos From 500px

Cycling ride – Beijing (Gopro)

Any tips? Any recommendations to share? that’s the place!

Hi there..!
If you have any tips to give - about writing, about travelling, about good restaurants or cool places to go to see around the world feel free to contact me!
Thanks! 谢谢! תודה!